Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Tell Us a Childhood Memory

Last night's Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF) challenge at Genea-Musings was to "Tell Us a Childhood Memory". 

I haven't written too much yet about my childhood, although I have quite a few memories :-)  but last week the topic of school reunions came up several times in conversation and I said ok - I'd post my 'grad photo' to show off my then hairdo. 

So here I am. I've previously posted on Facebook the few photographs I had from the high school graduation ceremony I attended (even though I was never graduated since I left and went to university early). 

Now this photo my kids will laugh at - in however many decades they've known me, they've rarely seen me with my hair 'done'. But back then hairdressers, big rollers, henna, even occasional beer rinses that my dad reluctantly provided the beer for were the thing. (Was that beer supposed to make our hair shine? or give it body...?) 

Now seriously I did like beehive hairdos - they made me taller! As did those potentially lethal spike heeled shoes I liked to wear. And no, I didn't feel strongly then about any contradictions between great shoes and being a feminist. It was all just me.

But what I really notice about this picture is - no glasses. 

I've worn glasses since Grade 3. My mother did tell me once that she was embarrassed that she hadn't realized I needed them till a teacher pointed it out. One of my favourites from my mum's stories was that on the bus coming home with my first pair of glasses on, I was excitedly reading out loud all the ads on the bus! 

Before that I must have squinted a lot as really since I started wearing glasses I hardly get out of bed without them. (And I've always thought having to look at fuzzy blackboards was why I didn't like arithmetic in grade school.) 

But despite their usefulness, apparently for this photo, I was vain enough to take my glasses off. Never since as far as I can see.  Perhaps this pretty much marks the end of my childhood.